Our Policy Statement

My Services:

As a Pet Loss Grief Counselor, my role is to help the client through their personal grief process toward healing and peace. I do provide short term counseling specifically for the loss of animals.

In my role as an Animal Communicator, I mediate a conversation between an owner and their animal companions. I do not predict the future (nor do I claim to). I will not accept a consultation to ask if a performance animal is going to win. I am happy to work with your animal towards improving the animal's performance, which may increase their odds of winning.

I am not a veterinarian and do not diagnose conditions, I do not provide psychotherapy, and I do not prescribe medications, natural or otherwise. Therefore, my services are by no means a substitute for proper veterinary care, nutrition or good health practices.

Payment:

The client may schedule a session once payment and signed agreement are received through my Acuity scheduler. Once those are received, you will receive a confirmation email as well as a welcome letter by email. Your appointment is not considered confirmed without payment.

I am willing to travel to a client's home if it is within a 15 mile radius of Leesburg, VA. Any on-site requests that are outside of that distance (within the VA/MD/DC area) will incur a travel fee at the federal standard mileage rate ($0.575 per mile for 2020).

Confidentiality:

All information and anything shared in a session is kept confidential. Occasionally, clients may be asked to share their case anonymously, strictly as a case study. The client will be asked for permission and to sign a release form for this purpose.

Counselor will not divulge that Counselor and Client are in a coaching relationship without express consent of Client (which may be delivered by Client electronically). Client, of course, is free to discuss the coaching relationship with anyone at any time.

This confidentiality statement is intended to be as confidential as the applicable state or federal laws allows. The counseling relationship is not privileged and, as such, counselor's records regarding work with a Client can be subpoenaed.

Cancellation Policies:

If you need to cancel your session for any reason, you must do so at least 24 hours in advance (although 48 hours is preferred) and can do so by sending an email to holli@compassionspeaks.com. If you need to cancel or reschedule your session without providing at least 24 hours advance notice, it will be considered forfeited and there will be no opportunity to reschedule it. If a true emergency occurs, please email or call me immediately, and in my sole discretion, I will determine whether your appointment may be rescheduled; otherwise, it is forfeited.
Cancellations or no shows on the day of the appointment will not be refunded.

Lateness Policies:
A. Please send me a text message (703.447.5374) to let me know as soon as possible. (If you provide me with enough notice, we may be able to reschedule as necessary.)

B. No additional time will be added to compensate for the time not used. For example, if you have a 4:00 - 5:00pm session and call in at 4:15, 15 minutes will not be added to your time or credited to you. The unused time is simply forfeit.

C. I remain on the call for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, I disconnect from the call and the time is forfeit.